Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 353: Another Exploration of the Heavenly Tome

The blind man really did just disappear without a trace, leaving behind only one last message: “Keep the Heavenly Tome in the ring, and don’t take it out easily.”

Zhao Changhe, feeling a bit frustrated, compliantly placed the Heavenly Tome into his storage ring and began to ponder.

She used to be a lot like the Riddler, yet compared to before, not only did she actually take action this time, but she also explained a lot more things to him.

The token was a material that could contribute to the forging of the sword, but I still lack Night Flowing Sand. Although the ancient Black Tortoise listed down the missing materials, I don’t recognize them, so how was I supposed to know what is what, or what material the token is made up of? What she told me is invaluable, even though it’s not much.

And this ring once belonged to the Night Emperor... Since she said it was something the Night Emperor used before attaining the Dao, it might not represent the Night Emperor’s power, but it should at least be a symbol of his personal authority. The token definitely had a specific meaning back in the day, but that’s no longer the case.

Since the blind woman knew all this, that proves that she truly is quite knowledgeable. And this page of the Heavenly Tome representing nature, I hadn’t really thought of any special applications for it, but the blind woman was able to point out that it could benefit Tang Wanzhuang.

Just this piece of information made Zhao Changhe’s resistance to her lessen significantly.

And also... she said that she didn’t want a dog.

Zhao Changhe was lost in thought. Compared to coercion, isn’t the blind woman’s approach a lot better? Everything really is relative.

Fine, considering this, I’ll use less of my beauty cream on you in the future.

However, the Riddler remained the Riddler. He still had to explore the specific features of the Heavenly Tome himself. Even more annoying was that he couldn’t even hold it in his hands to slowly explore it like earlier. He had to keep it in the ring and use his spiritual energy to perceive it, and that was incredibly tiring for him at the moment. He was unable to sustain that for long periods of time.

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe realized that she might have a way to contain the aura of the Heavenly Tome, but deliberately did not do so to force him to keep it in the ring, which would make it inconvenient for him to smear his beauty cream on it!

Case solved... damn, she got me.

Zhao Changhe could not help but find it amusing. The blind woman suddenly seemed much more down-to-earth to him.

He composed himself, then immersed his mind into the Heavenly Tome’s landscape of green mountains and clear waters.

Earlier, he had only roughly extended his senses over it, still hoping the blind woman would explain more to him. But since she did not provide an explanation, he had to immerse himself and figure it out himself.

While the page of the Heavenly Tome he had just acquired was said to represent nature, that did not refer to creation nor the evolution in nature. The Heavenly Tome was not a tome of creation. Essentially, all its pages were related to martial arts.

The most significant difference between the golden foil now and the golden foil before was that it could now also account for advancements in martial arts in relation to the Dao of nature—things like sonic attacks, formations, and even movement arts that utilized wind itself.

The golden foil, with the addition of the new page, was likely able to partially cover the five elements[1] and some related concepts, such as the path of lightning. If he practiced fire or ice-attribute true qi, he might gain some insights and benefits from the tome. However, these insights only concerned the integration of nature into one’s martial arts, and it would not specifically explain the five elements.

Zhao Changhe did not think that this page had much to do with the Four Idols Cult. The cult likely corresponded to another page of the Heavenly Tome, one dedicated solely to the Dao of the five elements.

Additionally, this page did not correspond to the geography and resources of mountains and rivers—that could be another page of the Heavenly Tome, or it might not exist at all. Treasures and natural wonders, though related to martial arts, were also separate, and their connection remained unknown.

But if he considered this page as the foundation, combining it with a page on the resources of mountains and rivers, and another on the five elements, it felt like a complete form would emerge.

He now had a rough idea of what the Heavenly Tome should be.

The original golden foil could analyze various specific martial arts, acting more like a comprehensive martial arts manual, while this page was akin to an upgrade to the golden foil, adding new features.

For example, the original golden foil could record and analyze an opponent’s martial arts during a battle but could not analyze their internal arts. To understand someone’s internal arts, movement arts, or special sutra, he needed to analyze the manuals themselves. The limitations in this aspect were quite clear.

Similarly, if the opponent used sonic attacks or set up formations, the golden foil could not analyze them. Zhao Changhe could never rely on the golden foil to break formations. Or if someone attacked him with fire, it could not even distinguish whether it was fire produced by qi or just normal fire.

Now, with this new page, that limitation was gone.

The next time he encountered sonic attacks or environment-based formations, he would be able to analyze and break them, and even learn from them.

If he wanted to derive a sonic attack method from this natural landscape, it should be possible, though it would require a deep understanding of music and prolonged study—something only someone like Tang Wanzhuang could probably manage.

For instance... Zhao Changhe concentrated, trying to recall the brief confrontation with Tian Lingzi in the poison chamber, focusing on Tian Lingzi’s peculiar footwork and movement art.

A figure of Tian Lingzi appeared in the landscape, demonstrating wind-assisted footwork.

The supreme movement art of the Thief Saint Ye Wuzong was thoroughly analyzed here.

Text even began to appear in the air: “The wind moves without a trace, inner core propelling the Heavenly Wind Body, concurrent internal and external cultivation, a leaf moves without a trace.”[2]

Below was a detailed manual. The page even analyzed Ye Wuzong’s core cultivation technique. It seemed that as long as the technique was related to nature, it was up for grabs.

Sisi already managed to steal a manual, and that was already quite unfortunate for Ye Wuzong, and now Zhao Changhe had something that provided an even more comprehensive explanation of the Thief Saint’s techniques.

Zhao Changhe let out a long sigh, withdrawing his consciousness from the Heavenly Tome. He suddenly realized that he was so exhausted that he was on the brink of collapsing.

Yet his expression was one of great joy. This trip was worth it...

Although this brief period of analysis did not yet show how the page could help with Tang Wanzhuang’s injury, he was confident that with continued study and exploration, he would eventually find a solution. For now, the fact that he could analyze other people’s cultivation techniques and movement arts meant that he would never lack martial arts knowledge and inheritances in the future.

This did not mean he had to steal and learn the Thief Saint’s cultivation technique—those techniques were not aligned with his path, and learning them was not necessary.

The same went for the movement arts. Ultimately, his movement arts were also derived from nature. With this advantage, he could base his techniques on what he learned, combining them with the Blood God Cult’s Traceless Soaring Blood and Tang Wanzhuang’s Water Treading Art to eventually create a set of movement arts more suited to him.

And this was just from two pages of the Heavenly Tome. What more could he achieve if he had more of the pages?

No wonder the gods and demons are vying for it. It encompasses all aspects of martial arts in the world. Once any of them has the Heavenly Tome in hand, it would not be difficult for them to surpass everyone in the world.

However, this still doesn’t quite align with my path to the Profound Mysteries; the direction isn’t right.

Zhao Changhe did not want to think too much about it for now. He returned to his room to rest. He was so mentally exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

This time, the blind woman did not appear in his dream.

Instead, he saw a long-forgotten face, in the midst of the blazing inferno at Luo Family Village. A man approached Vermillion Bird and reported, “The entirety of the Luo family, except for Luo Zhenwu, has been executed.”

Who was that again... Oh, right, Cult Leader Xue.

1. I’m not sure if I’ve ever explained it in this novel before, but the five elements in Chinese philosophy are: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Other elements or attributes are seen to be derivatives of these five elements. ☜

2. Ye Wuzong’s name, 叶无踪, literally translates to leaf (叶) without a trace (无踪) ☜